Pakistan must move faster against extremists, says British FM

ISLAMABAD : British Foreign Secretary David Miliband on Friday stepped up the pressure on Pakistan to act more quickly against extremist networks operating on its soil in the wake of the Mumbai attacks.

His visit here comes on the heels of a high-profile trip to India, during which he called on Islamabad to show "zero tolerance" toward militant groups blamed by India for the attacks, which left 174 dead including nine gunmen.

"The whole international community want Pakistan to go further and go faster," Miliband told a press conference in Islamabad after meetings with key Pakistani leaders including Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.

"I want the Pakistan government to take action because British people have been hurt... because terrorism from Pakistan is a threat to the stability of the whole region."

Miliband however said he believed the government in Islamabad was "serious in its commitment to prosecute those associated with the Mumbai attacks. Steps have been taken."

New Delhi has blamed the banned Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which is fighting Indian rule in divided Kashmir, for the November bloodbath in Mumbai.

Islamabad has said it is doing all it can to crack down on militant groups, announcing Thursday that it had so far detained more than 70 members of an Islamic charity linked to LeT and placed 124 others under surveillance.

Pakistan has also confirmed that the lone surviving Mumbai gunman is one of its citizens.

Earlier, an aide to Gilani told AFP the prime minister "reiterated that his government would do whatever it can (on Mumbai) and would move fast in acting against those who are proven to be involved".

"We are conducting our investigation in the light of the information provided by India. We are acting on our side," the aide said.

Miliband's visit comes one month after British Prime Minister Gordon Brown pledged six million pounds (nine million dollars) to help Pakistan tackle militancy during his own visit to Islamabad.

Both Brown and Miliband have said that London has a vested interest in coming to Islamabad's aid, as the majority of terror plots investigated by British authorities in London have links back to Pakistan.

The British foreign secretary earlier met with his counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi for nearly two hours on a range of issues including Islamabad's relations with India.

Qureshi said Pakistan had appreciated Miliband's "balanced and rational statements" during his stay in India, the Pakistani foreign ministry said.

Miliband was expected to meet President Asif Ali Zardari and army chief General Ashfaq Kayani before departing Saturday, Pakistani officials said.

In a speech Thursday at the Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai, one of the locations targeted in the attacks, Miliband called on Pakistan to show no mercy towards militant groups like LeT.

"We know the attacks were carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba operating from the territory of Pakistan," Miliband said. "There must be zero tolerance towards such organisations."

On Tuesday in New Delhi, he also restated London's view that the government in Islamabad did not direct the attacks, despite Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's claim that the militants had the support of "some official agencies".

India and Pakistan have engaged in a series of tit-for-tat accusations since the attacks, with each side saying the other is guilty of whipping up "war hysteria".

India's army chief said Wednesday that he regarded war as a "last resort" but reiterated that New Delhi was keeping open all of its options, including military action.